Vocaloid: Origins
by Lady Isludis
Summary: Where the Vocaloids really came from, and their relationship with 'Master'.
1. Introduction and Prologue

_After a long hiatus, I'm finally back to try writing again. Alot has been happening to me lately, moving from a house into a tiny 2 bedroom apartment, getting over the leftover stress/anxiety brought on by college, (you'd take a while to de-psycho yourself too after spending ages preparing for an 'open to the public' exhibition xD) but anyways I'll stop right there because it sounds like I'm making excuses and complaining. And I hate giving that impression. And now that the rant is out of the way (for now lol) let's continue on with my main order of business._

_*ahem*_

_Anyways, here's a little idea I've had for a little while. It's a series about the vocaloids in their native environment, but I'll also 'creatively' fill in the blanks. Everybody remember reboot? That dinky 3d show about life in a computer? Why not use that as an indirect reference point? Of course, there's no bob, dot or enzo in this story. Nor any of the other characters. I'm not even using mainframe. Just the concept, if anything. At very least it should make the story a bit more interesting. This is inspired greatly by Mikumiku dance, and you may even recognise some of the setings xD._

_Oh, and before I press on, the concept of 'master' will be visited, in greater detail. You'll see ;3_

_And now, without further ado. On with the story!_

* * *

**Prologue:**

From the time man made the machine, he has invested a great many hours working to improve on it, to advance. In pursuit of the thing which he cannot grasp. Perfection.

But how can perfection be born from imperfection?

The machine is born of man's likeness.

Like a human child, it must absorb data that has already been gathered and compiled. That is it's function. In the creation of a perfect, all-knowing thing, the imperfection of man limits it's performance.

Without man, the machine cannot be fed new data. It cannot grow and learn on it's own.

Man's efforts are doomed to fail.

In what some might call persistent defiance, man still works tirelessly to find new uses for the machine.

The ultimate goal still remains.

An intelligent thing that can grow and learn, yet is not produced by nature.

An intelligence that is... artificial.

* * *

_Alright, not too radical for anybody I suppose? Anyways, here's my dinky little prologue. Stay tuned for the next chapter :D_


	2. Chapter 1: Internet Discovery

Okay, here's chapter one! Now for those of you who're wondering, the concept of 'Master' is a vague one. In most of the fanfics it's just some shadowy, persona-less entity that talks. In other words? About as descriptive as a box that talks. But that's not a bad thing. The real 'Master' can be any person who owns a computer with Vocaloid installed. So, I've decided to write a fic about life on both sides of the computer screen. Again, you'll see :3

* * *

**Chapter 1: Internet Discovery**

The internet. Collective knowledge base, social network, massive data storage and retrieval system, place for the average nerd to spend his Saturday goofing off when he's supposed to be studying for that upcoming algebra quiz on Monday.

All over the internet you can find software. Free software, pay software, software that claims to be free but is a scam because you have to pay to use it anyways. It was on a boring, routine google raid that Kazuo Takeshi stumbled upon the one piece of software that would change his life.

It was a gloomy day outside, so there'd be no guilt in missing the fresh air and exercise. Not that Takeshi was a lazy person who never saw the light of day. He had a close group of friends, a website, and quite a fetish with anime. His room was filled with memorabilia from the past couple of conventions he'd been too, his walls plastered with posters, and his shelves with figurines and a Gundam he'd received for his birthday. His desktop was composed of several pieces of graphics software, (some bought, some borrowed, some freeware) software for video editing, audio, and a couple of MMOs to name a few.

He was in the midst of enjoying a YouTube poop when a small chunk of his taskbar began to flash, signifying an incoming instant message. A little annoyed because he was being disrupted, but curious to see who it was, he clicked on it. Up came the MSN window, and some hurried texting from a friend.

"Hey Man! joo gotta see this!"

He shook his head, and proceed to type a message.

"Can't talk, watchin youtube"

He hit the enter key. Satisfied, he closed the window.

A few seconds later, the window prompted again. This time, the message was a link to a video.

He thought for a moment, and decided upon closing the window without replying.

He set the seeker back to the beginning of the video, and made an attempt to watch it again. Uninterrupted.

Once again, halfway through the video.

He growled to himself. And ignored it.

But the window kept flashing, and the repeated musical 'duh duh duhm!' sound effect kept on playing. Even after he right clicked it and told it to quit. It just kept on coming.

Finally, Takeshi caved. He opened the window.

Same url.

He sighed, and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Okay, fine..."

He blocked his friend's message, and clicked the link...

A browser window opened, and the familiar youtube interface appeared. The words, "3D Miku Hatsune Sings beautiful Ballad" lit up the title bar.

"Miku Hatsune?" Takeshi thought. "Probably some random anime girl..."

He checked the volume, so as not to be ear blasted, and hit play.

The scene faded in, and indeed, a 3D model of an anime character with blueish-green pigtails, and a black, blue, and grey outfit appeared. The camera circled around her for a few moments. And suddenly, little lights and buttons began to light up on her.

"She's a robot or something?"

Then, the camera zoomed in on her eye. It opened, and the words "Vocaloid Hatsune Miku" could be clearly read.

"Vocaloid?"

Takeshi paused.

The camera made one final zoom out, and rotated again. Then, Miku's lips parted, as she took the first breath.

Takeshi was a bit skeptical at first, waiting for some sort of flaw or annoyance in her voice, but none came. It was as clear as crystal, and as melodious as a music box. He wondered who was doing the voice acting.

Then his attention shifted to a link on the right, in that little scrolling suggested videos box. There was some Japanese text, followed by ""

He raised an eyebrow, and decided to click it.

After a lengthy, but impressive 3D intro, miku worked her charm again. Takeshi thought the graphic style reminded him a little of gundam seed, only in 3D. The visuals were by far, spectacular!

"What anime is this!"

Exited, he began to plow through youtube videos, web sites and forums for information. It wasn't long before he came across a rather remarkable piece of text...

Vocaloid is a software program.

Miku Hatsune's voice is made up of the samples of a Japanese voice actress, and

her lyrics strung together using Vocaloid. Everything, including pitch, pronunciation,

length of the notes, etc. can be controlled in the Vocaloid interface.

Takeshi's eyes slowly widened. Look how far they'd come with computer technology, and now this! How was it that the industry could do this, and still load each and every Windows OS with a copy of the same old 'Microsoft Sam''?

Just for kicks, he loaded up Sam and began to fiddle with the voice, but no matter what he tried, he could barely get Sam to pronounce a word properly. Let alone sing a hit single.

It wasn't long before Takeshi began to get quite comfortable browsing the Vocaloid Videos on youtube, marvelling at the graphics, and taking every opportunity to download the mp3 version of 'that'video using a link given by some courteous youtube user. The rest were just the usual 'google it!' elitists who were convinced they simply had no time to waist helping useless 'noobs'. One thing's for certain, Vocaloid was continuously proving itself to be far more enthralling even than his new FL Studio demo. He only wished he knew where he could buy such amazing software, and that he had the money.

Takeshi sighed.

That'd be what did him in. They money.

Few things are more hopeless in life than not having to go to school, and asking your parents to give you a couple hundred dollars to buy a piece of software you found on the internet.

Quite simply, they'd never buy it.

That's it.

Game over.

At least he still had youtube.

Funny how you can never picture yourself achieving something, and then fate bitchslaps you.

_Lady Isludis: And that's that!_

_Takeshi: Wait a minute! What do I have to do with anything?_

_Lady Isludis: You?_

_Takeshi: Yes me!_

_Lady Isludis: I told you, you'll see!_

_Takeshi: Aghhhh!_

_Lady Isludis: Don't be like that! Do you know how hard it was just to pick a name for you? Do you have any idea how many kanji there are?_

_Takeshi: Nine, Ten?_

_Lady Isludis: Try around 80 Thousand! So shut up and sit down ya pansy! :D_

_(Note: I didn't go and learn all the kanji, I just went looking to see how it works to help pick a good, meaningful name. In the end I pretty much just went eenie meanie minie moe anyway xD)_

Anyways, I'm hoping this'll help get me back on track. I need a little boost to get my momentum going before I can resume Cherry Blossom Chronicles, and then move onto my HM Pretear epic ^^


End file.
